


Camp Cultists

by CatEmpire



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Cults, David would do anything for his son, F/F, F/M, First chapter’s pretty crappy, Gen, Gwen too, Implied Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Magic, MomGwen, Nightmares, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Poisoning, Stabbing, but it gets better, dadvid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2020-09-25 18:23:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20376085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatEmpire/pseuds/CatEmpire
Summary: Daniel sends lookalikes of the campers to assert his revenge.





	1. The Mission

**Author's Note:**

> Some tags don’t come immediately into play until later in this fanfic.

Prologue

“Daniel!” “Jen!”

A man in white robes came rushing to them, his face blank. Around his neck was a white and red amulet with a curved dagger in the middle. He wore nothing more than his robes and sandals.

“Summer, can’t you wait? Me and Jen are having tea currently.” “You could’ve at least knocked before

barging in,” Jen said.

Summer bowed at his superior and muttered an apology. “I am sorry, Daniel and Jen. But this is an important matter. Your plan has been approved by the Council, and the children are here.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Oh, really? Bring them right in!” Jen, however, appeared confused. “Daniel, what is he talking abou-“

As Jen was about to complete her sentence, a group of children walked in, all in white clothes.

Each child had a smile on their face, with every one with strangely colored hair, from light blue to green to dirty blonde to blonde.

“Ah, Jen, allow me to explain. Before you arrived at this bunker, I sent a letter to the Council about a plan. A plan to send lookalikes of all the campers at Camp Campbell to make sacrifices to Zëmug. These children have been trained at a young age in assassination, torture, and even survival skills.”

“But why at that place? What’s so special about that camp?” Jen asked. “Well, you see, they are the perfect sacrifices, young and corrupted by the toxins. They are the kind of sacrifices that Zëmug favors.”

“Now, does anyone here have any questions?” Daniel asked with a smile. A boy with brown hair and maroon eyes raised his hands. “Yes, Micheal?”

“How will we get inside the camp? Has Summer signed the paperwork for us?” “Indeed! He signed them last night, in fact.” Another boy, with pitch black hair and dark blue eyes, and a girl with pink hair and yellow eyes, both raised their hands. “Yes, Nathan and Bella?”

“Where are our daggers?” “And how will we communicate with you if something goes wrong?” “Nathan, the daggers will be sent in a week, as the counselors will most likely search through your bags. Bella, I have given Summer phones to communicate with your group and me if something goes wrong. He will give you them when the bus arrives here.” A tall, pale girl with light green hair and light blue eyes and a chubby boy with white hair and purple eyes raised their hands. “Yes, Elizabeth and Naer?”

“First, call me Eliza, what do we say when one of those kids ask us about our mother or father?” “And

will the Flower and Woodscouts be involved in this?” “Eliza, simply say mom, dad, whatever suits you.” “And Naer, the other scouts will not be involved in this.”

Daniel looked at the remaining children that had not asked a question. “Do any of you five have a question?” All of them shook their heads. “Good! The bus should arrive any moment now. Summer, if you please.” Summer then passed out all of the phones and duffel bags to the children. “These phones have all of you kids, Daniel, and Jen on them. Do not add any one else. These duffel bags have food, water and other supplies to help you complete your mission.” Suddenly, the sound of tires screeching to a halt came through the concrete walls. “Oh, that’s the bus! Remember kids, stay safe and make Zëmug happy!” Daniel shouted.

At Camp Campbell...

“Gwen, what are all these papers for?” David asked, a puzzled look on his face. “I told you yesterday, for God’s sake! A batch of new kids are coming tomorrow morning.” Gwen said, being the down-to-earth counselor she was. “Oh goody! Lemme see them!” David said, snatching the papers out of Gwen’s hand. “Hmm... Nicole, Astro Kid, Dave, Harold, Micheal, Bella, Nathan, Elizabeth, Naer, and Priss.” Campbell also was in the room at the moment, and as he groaned he said, “More kids? We already have to deal with these demons. I swear if one more kid throws Quartermaster’s mashed potatoes into my hair I’m gonna lose it!” Gwen also was uncertain about these new campers. “David, all these new campers’ camps are the same ones. Magic Camp, Extreme Sports Camp, Art Camp etc. Not to mention they’re all the same age too.” “Oh, don’t worry Gwen! I’m sure they’ll be nonsuspicious and have a great time here!”, David said with a broad smile. “I sure hope so” was Gwen’s response as she eventually drifted off to sleep.


	2. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lookalikes arrive at camp and Max refuses to be friends with them.

“David, why the fuck did you wake us up so early? And why are we here?”

Max yawned and tried to fight the drowsiness that was consuming him. It was 7:30 in the morning and the camp was strangely alive, albeit with groans and requests to go back to sleep. David, however, stated that everyone must stay awake for some reason. “Well, Max, today we’re getting a whole new batch of campers!” David chirped.

“Isn’t it a bit too late for new campers? It’s August, damnit.” Max wasn’t too happy about new campers. More kids just meant more shitheads for him to deal with.

“Don’t say that, Max! It’s never too late for new campers!” said the optimistic counselor. However, as two hours went by, even he felt his excitement drain.

“Don’t care about any of this shit.” Max said. He then turned around to his friends, Neil and Nikki. “Wanna go back to our tents? I can make us some coffee.”

“Sure, a scientist needs his coffee.” Neil mumbled.

“Ew, coffee’s gross. But even Sasquatch can’t be up this early.” Nikki said. But, before they could even make it halfway to their tents, the bus arrived. “Kids are here.” Quartermaster stated, his hook pointing towards the back of the bus.

“Oh goody, the kids are here!” David ran to the bus, his eyes already widened in happiness. “Welcome to Camp Campbe-“

Just about when he was about to finish his sentence, a small figure in white tackled him, sending him to the ground almost immediately.

“Aha! Got you now you-oh. I wasn’t expecting you to greet us.” The child replied with a ‘sorry-but-not-sorry’ look on her face. “Sorry about that. Name’s Bella.”

“Don’t worry, Bella! My name is David.” David lifted himself off the ground, surprisingly with no sign of any wounds.

Nearly everyone looked at her with surprise, except for Max, who stared at her with his mouth hanging open, and for Nikki, who simply responded with “Hey, she looks like me!”

Bella then looked over her shoulder and shouted “Hey guys, it’s clear!” One by one the lookalikes exited the bus, each thanking Quartermaster and forming into a group around David.

Max’s jaw may as well have been on the ground. “Neil, are you..?” Max whispered, recovering from shock. “Yes, and I’m as equally horrified as you.” Neil answered, mouth also hanging open.

The white clad children noticed their counterparts and agreed to get to know them. Micheal and Nathan went over to Max and Neil to introduce themselves.

“Hello there, my name is Micheal and this is my friend Nathan. Sorry about the incident regarding Bella, she can be a bit...hyper.” Micheal and Nathan both extended their arms for a handshake. “So, friends?” asked Nathan, a small smile on his face. Max quickly swatted Micheal’s hand. “Oh fuck no! Stay the hell away from me and this camp! Isn’t that right Neil?” Max didn’t receive an answer and was confused by that. “Neil?” Max looked around him to find his friend, to no avail. He also noticed that everyone was gone. “Oh, him? He was chatting with Nathan and they left. Everyone left with their counterparts actually.” Micheal replied.

“But, where’s David and Gwen and Campbell?” Max questioned. Suddenly, he was in front of Micheal’s face. “Did you sick fucks take them?! I demand an answer!” “Heavens no! David went to the activities field I believe. Gwen and Campbell went inside there.” Micheal pointed to the counselor’s cabin with a frown.

“Jesus Christ this kid is persistent. Looks like I’m gonna have to go with the flow and try not to piss him off.” Max thought. He had to get this kid off of him while still keeping an eye on him. “Alright then, let’s go to the activities field. But don’t try anything funny.” Max retorted.

“Alright then buddy, let’s go have some fun!” responded Micheal, a broad smile on his face.


	3. Living Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max is uncomfortable and Nikki is scared.

“So, what kind of camp did your parents sign you up for, Micheal?” Max was currently enjoying a cup of coffee while Micheal dug inside his bag. The boys were at the activities field with the two directly outside of Max’s tent.

“Well, the camp I’m here for is a bit girly...”, said Micheal with an embarrassed look.

“Just say it. I’m not gonna laugh at you, if it’s not too girly.”

“The camp I’m here for is fashion camp. Sewing, to be more specific.” Micheal said, pulling out a sewing machine and bunches of colored fabric.

Max nearly spat out his coffee in surprise. He expected Micheal to be here for torture or planning-an-escape-route camp, not fashion camp. At last he finished his coffee and simply replied “Fashion camp. You came here for sewing.”

“Yeah, I know. But I can sew very well.”

Max was still creeped out of his mind by this kid. He needed to get him away from him or at least distract the boy.

“Say, why don’t you sew me a shirt? Nothing special, just a plain, ordinary shirt.”

“But, you can’t sew a sh-“, Max was fed up with this kids bullshit and exclaimed “For fuck’s sake! Sew me ANYTHING! Hell, sew me a pair of mittens!”

“Calm down, I’ll sew you a blanket, ok?” Micheal was surprised at Max’s anger and pulled out his needle and two bunches of red and black fabric each.

“Finally. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go do something.” With that, Max sped off towards the center of the activities field.

Micheal always enjoyed sewing. He was the one who made wool shirts in the winter for everyone back at Daniel’s bunker. After that, Daniel and Jen labeled him as a ‘valuable asset’ and was promoted to the leader of the children. He was also the most experienced in stabbing and hidding bodies so the police or his own cultists couldn’t find them easily.

Each one of the children had a skill they excelled in.

Nathan could make untraceable poison and other just as deadly chemicals. Bella hunted like an animal and so, had other attributes such as night vision and a stronger sense of smell. Dave’s disguises were near perfect. Elizabeth could hijack literally anything. Naer could beat anyone to death with his bare hands, being the brute. Astro Kid was a master of suffocation and choking. Harold could use a myriad of magic, including thunder, ice, and disappearing magic. Nicole’s seducing skills were off the charts. Priss’ voice imitating shocked even Daniel at first.

“Wonder how the others are doing.” Micheal could only hope that the others had learned something about their targets.

It didn’t take long for Max to get to the activities field. Max didn’t care, he needed to get to David to tell him that these kids were insane and had to be killed, or at the least removed.

At last, the boy found David as expected in the center, smiling happily as he watched the campers and lookalikes partake in their activities.

David noticed Max and his smile became even wider. “Why, hello Max! Do you need something?”

“David, these kids are insane! We’re all dead if they stay here!”

“What makes you say that?”

Max was dumbfounded by David’s oblivious nature and exclaimed “You can’t be serious, they wear white clothes and look like us! Daniel sent them!”

David was surprised at Max’s behavior. He never sounded this desperate and was genuinely scared. He lowered his voice to a whisper and mumbled “Max please, when was the last time you saw the kids this happy?” He then pointed to the campers to prove his point.

They were definitely much happier then before. Neil was making chemicals and stuff with Nathan, Dave was painting a picture with Dolph, Elizabeth was practicing her skateboarding skills with Ered, Astro Kid and Space Kid were playing some kind of game with each other, Nicole and Nerris were playing a game of Dungeons And Dragons with Nerris being the DM, Naer was talking to Nurf about his personal issues and wishes, and Harold and Harrison’s magic tricks were amazing Preston and Priss.

After a minute of silence, Max realized that Nikki and Bella weren’t here. “Wait a minute, where’s Nikki and that girl?”

“Nikki went to the forest to play hide and seek with Bella. Although it’s been half an hour and they still haven’t came back.” Even David was starting to feel worried.

That set off a massive alarm in Max’s head. “David, what the FUCK are you thinking?! That stupid bitch probably killed Nikki, and it’s all because of you!” Max began to feel anger mixed in with fear and muttered to a nervous David “Can things get any worse?”

Suddenly, Micheal appeared and shouted “Max, I finished your blanket!”

Max let out a scream of terror and made David take a step back. “Holy shit, can you mind our privacy please?”

“I’m sorry about scaring you and David, but I wanted to show you your blanket.” Micheal lifted up a blanket with a flower on a black ground with a red background on it. Micheal grinned and said “What do you think?”

“What’s with the design?”

“Well, when I first met you, you seemed to feed off of negative emotions, with the only future in store for you is despair and hatred. The flower represents you planted in a ground of cynicism with the hatred being the sunlight and the emotions being the sky.”

Max was shocked to say the least, his eyes wide open in terror of this kid. “Uhh, it’s fine. In fact lemme take it to my tent.” With that, Max sped to his tent in pure horror. _“How does he know that? How much does he know about me?”_

Max was on the ground of tent, the blanket on his chest. It felt soft and smooth, and while he hated to admit it, he liked the blanket. He felt the world drift away and eventually fell asleep, for Max had not slept well the night before.

_He was on the floor, shivering and scared. He had no idea were he was, yet felt a strange sense of recognition. The smell of blood was strong, and the boy could see body parts all over the place.Max saw a door, an awfully big one at that. However, before he could even get up, Micheal walked in, a shit-eating grin on his face._

_Micheal then walked over to Max, pulling out a curved dagger and waving it over his chest. Max tried to scream, but nothing came out. As Micheal was about to stab him, a voice rang out._

_“Max?”_

_“Max?”_

“MAX!”

That woke Max up in an instant, his body and his blanket covered in sweat. He looked over to the entrance of his tent, revealing that Neil was calling his name.

“Finally you’re up. I’ve been calling your name for a minute now. You must’ve had a nightmare.”

“I had a nightmare?”

“You were saying something about Micheal.” Neil lifted Max up and replied “Let’s go to the mess hall. Bet you’re starving by now.”

Max and Neil were at the mess hall, picking at their food. They still haven’t seen Nikki or Bella, and that was starting to worry everyone.

“So, have you seen Nikki? She’s still not here,” Max questioned, a lump of mashed potatoes entering his mouth.

“Haven’t seen her too. Maybe they found Sasquatch or something.”

Just as Neil said that, Nikki burst through the doors, an extremely troubled look on her face. She was covered in dirt and sweat, and her legs were shaking.

“Finally you’re here. What took you so long?” Max was relieved to see her and fought an urge to run over to her.

But instead, Nikki ran over to Gwen and started crying her eyes out and hugging Gwen’s legs.

“Nikki, what’s wrong?” Gwen didn’t like this kind of Nikki. It took something serious to get her to genuinely cry. She took Nikki by the arms and held her like the way you would hold a baby.

“B-Bella! She put me in a t-trap and laughed at me! S-She’s so scary! Her eyes glow in the dark!”

Once again, as the girl said that, Bella entered the mess hall and walked over to Gwen.

“Come on Nikki, you know I was only playing with you.”

Gwen wasn’t going to deal with any of Bella’s crap and asked her “What the fuck did you do to Nikki? And your eyes glow in the dark? What are you, an animal?”

“I may have accidentally knocked her into a pit...”

“No you didn’t! You did it on purpose! And the way you chased me was scary!”

“I chased you because I needed to, uh, tell you something.”

Gwen looked down at Bella with disgust. Although she would never admit it, she cared for Nikki and would beat up anyone that messed with her.

“Bella, you’re a fucking monster. Nikki, don’t worry, you’re safe now.” Gwen walked over to the counselor’s cabin with Nikki still in her arms.

Everyone looked at Bella with a sense of unease. Bella mustered the best innocent look and nervously muttered “What?”

_Night, outside of the Mess Hall_

“Oh come on, I didn’t scare her that badly.”

Micheal and Bella were outside of the mess hall, with the boy being reasonably angry with Bella.

“You almost blew our cover! How can you think to try and trap her when we don’t even have our daggers?”

“It was an accident, I didn’t mean it. Besides, it’s not my problem that Nikki is such a crybaby.”

“Speaking of her, where is she?”

“Sleeping with Gwen. She doesn’t trust me. Max is also sleeping with David.”

“Well, fuck. That only makes our job harder. Do me a favor and be more careful, ok? And tell this to the gang.”

“Ok. Let’s go the those twos tents, it’s getting cold.”

They then walked to the tents, Micheal already forming a plan in his head.


	4. Time For It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max comes up with a plan. Unfortunately, a teenage girl gets in the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. School’s been a cunt and I don’t have much time for writing now.  
About to hit 300 hits? For ME? Thank you all.  
Cool gory stuff happens next chapter.

Inside the woods, during the early morning, the cultists were having a meeting, discussing their stay and how far they had gotten to know the campers.

“Alright everybody, settle down. I have an announcement.” Micheal lifted himself on a large tree stump and cleared his voice. At once, the children stopped talking and focused their attention on their leader.

“As you may have heard, Bella here has made a...mistake. A costly one at that.” The kids, all except Micheal and Bella were looking at her, with confused expressions oh their faces.

“What did she do?”

“Did she do something stupid?”

“Lemme guess, Bella tried to kill someone?” That came from Nathan, who wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t rare that Bella tried to attack someone, whether it was too early or unprovoked.

“Exactly! She trapped that girl Nikki in a pit and chased after her.” Micheal was still angry with the girl and gave her a hard stare.

Everyone looked at her and started clamoring about the attack and started to worry about the mission. Before it could get out of hand, Micheal clapped his hands and put his left hand in a ‘shh’ pose.

“Quiet everyone. We don’t want to wake anyone up.” Once again, the kids stopped their discussion and looked up to the brown-haired boy.

“Much better. Now, has anyone done an exploration of this place? Find anything suspicious or interesting?”

No one spoked for a while, only glances and expressions were showed and traded. At last, Priss raised his hand.

“Yes, Priss?”

“I’ve found nothing. Seems like a normal summer camp, albeit much worse. Only thing worth noting is that creepy old guy and his place.”

“A bit disappointing, to say the least. Anyway, how has everyone been with their counterparts? Anything worth mentioning about them?”

“Exactly how Daniel mentioned them. They’re exactly like us and our personalities are just like them.”

“Well then, that’s good to know. Priss, I assume you and the others have gotten their trust?”

“We have gotten to know them well, but the kids haven’t trusted us completely yet. Nicole and Astro Kid-“

Astro Kid butted in and stated that “My name is Galileo Jr!”

“Right. Anyway, Nicole and him have their counterparts’ trust, and I’m pretty sure that Harold and Nathan have made progress. Rest of us are working on that.”

Micheal grinned. He could practically see the victory, as if it was right in front of him. All he and his group needed to do was to stall for a bit longer while Daniel delivered the weapons.

“Excellent. Now, let’s get back to our tents and act like this didn’t happen.” With that, the children strolled back to their tents.

For most of the kids, the day was just starting, them getting up and drowsily walking to the mess hall. Except, of course, the cultists and Max and Nikki, who were wide awake and always on the alert by the white clad children.

Max scooted over to Nikki and gently nudged her. She seemed to be half-asleep and was picking at her food and was surprised by the act of her friend.

“Max, what is it?”

Max wasn’t sure why Nikki was like this, but he didn’t like it. Actual Nikki would be gobbling all the food she had regardless where it came from or if it was served by Quartermaster.

“Look, I know these kids are carbon copies of us, and your still scared by that girl, but you need to get her to be your friend.”

That caused Nikki to leer at Max and to scoot away from him.

“What do you mean?”

“Trust me, if you get her to become friends with you, she’ll most likely get her guard down. We need to do this for everyone.”

“I can do that. What about Neil?”

Max looked over at the right of him and saw him and Nathan laughing and discussing chemicals and elements and whatnot.

Max, at first, felt sadness, then it turned to hatred and loathing at Nathan.

“Stupid traitor. Can’t believe he replaced me for some damn clone of him.”

Just then, David and Gwen walked by, the two also distressed by yesterday’s events. Max got up and walked over to them while also dragging Nikki with him.

“Hey Gwen, I need to see something.”

The woman groaned, not wishing to deal with whatever Max had come up with. “I’m not dealing with any of your bullshit Max.”

“I need the paperwork.”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me. I need the paperwork for the new kids.”

The adults looked at each other, and then back at Max. Gwen shrugged and went inside the counselors cabin to get the papers.

In a minute, Gwen had gotten the papers and handed them to Max. The boy hoped he could get something out of them.

As it turned out, he couldn’t. All of the signatures were different and all were written from sloppy to very neatly. Max cursed under his breath and threw the wad down.

“God fucking damnit! These-”

David stepped in and put his hand over Max’s mouth.

“Quiet. We don’t need the kids to hear us,” David whispered.

When Max had calmed down, David clapped his hands and ordered everyone to go outside. The campers obliged and walked out of the mess hall.

Outside, the kids stood in a group with the adults in front of them while David stood outside with a smile. He pulled out a clipboard and was about to read from it when Elizabeth casually strolled to him.

“Don’t worry, I can handle this. I’m used to dealing with kids.”

This shocked David. No one ever really took care of something and here he was with a girl who was willing to help him.

“I’m sorry Elizabeth, but this is-“

Suddenly, Elizabeth pulled on his arm and got him down to her face.

“Do not worry. As I’ve said, I have worked with children before, and I’ll report to you if something goes amiss.”

“But you will check in on us hourly. Is that a problem?”

“Not at all.” With that, she grabbed the clipboard and shoved the two inside the mess hall. With a grin, she read out the activities for today and told everybody to go. Except for Max and Nikki.

She turned around and looked at the two. “I know what you two brats are doing.”

The duo put on their best smiles and tried to look as innocent as they could. This didn’t faze the teenager and she pulled out a small whip out of a jacket pocket.

“I won’t be afraid to use this to keep you or the others in line. Will that be a problem?”

Max froze and looked at the whip. It was bringing back bad memories, mostly of his mother hitting him with it as a form of punishment. He had a permanent scar from it on his right leg.

Fortunately, he snapped out of it and told Elizabeth that nothing was wrong. He tugged Nikki on the arm and the friends sped into the activities field.

Max grinned. It was time for the plan to commence.


	5. The Magic Behind The Horrible Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A botched magic show is key to revealing the truth behind the new campers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m shit at writing summaries  
Sorry that this took longer than expected. Once again school got in the way and this is a bit longer.  
Even more gory stuff next chapter.

“This is going to be much harder then I expected to be.”

Max and Nikki were at the theater trying on some costumes. Not because theatre was their thing, but because it got Elizabeth off of their tracks. At first, Max had attempted to get the plan started, but he ran into some issues.

Elizabeth was quite observant, so much so that Max swore he could see her eyes everywhere. She also wasn’t kidding about the whipping, as Max and Nikki had seen her whip Nurf for threatening another camper for interrupting his therapy session.

It was also impossible to even get to the other campers, as every time the two tried to get to the others, the bitch simply would herd them back to the theater.

The two grew frustrated with this, and decided on another plan.

“Hey Nikki, you know what’s the other plan, right?”

“Wait, what was the other plan?”

“For the love of..., I told you ten minutes ago! I sneak into the counselors cabin to tell David and Gwen that there are damn idiots while you go and make some campers jealous,” Max said as he was getting out of his mad scientist costume.

“But what about that other plan?”

“Can’t do it; that girl will just catch us and haul us back here.”

“Alright then,” Nikki replied as she got out of her bear costume.

Max was stealthy for a boy his age, being able to travel through the camp unnoticed and making practically no noise except for the faint sound of his shoes. When he reached the activities field, he changed his course to the forest, avoiding the sight of the kids.

After Max had reached the back of the counselors cabin, he ditched the forest and went up to the window. He was too small to reach up to it, so he dragged a large rock and lifted himself onto it.

He pounded on the window, hoping that someone would hear him. Alas, David and Gwen were engrossed in a TV show, ignoring his fierce pounding. Having enough of this, Max shouted “Hey, assholes, it’s me, Max!”

Hearing this, David opened the window for the Indian. The boy was enraged at the two for blindly letting an obvious cultist take control of the activities field and watching over the kids.

“You idiots! You absolute shit-eating twats! Do you have any idea you just put in charge of the camp?!”

David closed the window and put his finger over Max’s mouth once more. “Quiet down, Max. Now, I know you’re angry...”

“You let that stupid bitch watch over the campers so you can watch Bob Ross and Gwen can jack off to lizard erotica, I know.”

Gwen, having heard that, rose out of her chair and stomped over to Max.

“You little shit. I do not jack off to lizard porn.”

“So what were you doing reading that book at the lake? Getting a boner?”

“Shut your mouth before I-“

“What’s you two yammering about?” That came from the Quartermaster, who was standing right behind David.

The three gave gasps of surprise and backed off, before Max eyed the old man angrily. “Where the hell did you come from?”

“I was listening to you two arguing bout lizard porn, that’s what.”

“Okay...”

Looking at Quartermaster, Max got an idea. This man seemed to have omnipotence over everything, so it was worth a shot to see if knew something about a certain cult.

“Hey Quartermaster, can I ask you a question?”

“Fine, what it about?”

“Do you know anything about Daniel and his cult? Do you know anyone who joined it?”

The man rubbed his beard and went down to sit down on David’s chair, seeming to be thinking deep about this. After five minutes, he rose up, went over to the desk, grabbed a paper and went over to Gwen’s laptop.

“Girl, I need your password to get into this high techno gadget you millennials use.”

“Uhh...okay.” Gwen entered her password and Quartermaster began typing one of the signatures from the paper he was holding into Google with Max, David, and Gwen looking at the screen. Within a few seconds he got an answer.

_ “Summer ‘Goodwill’ Baxter is an American businessman who was laid off of his job in the summer of 2013. Since then, he has mysteriously disappeared, with rumors surrounding him. It is theorized that he ran off to the ‘Cult of Personality’, a cult ran by the notorious Daniel Hemingway._

Quartermaster began typing the Cult of Personality into the search bar.

“_The Cult of Personality is a cult run by the infamous Daniel Hemingway, a religious fanatic who is known for his beliefs and suicide-murders. The cult is centered around the almighty ‘Zëmug and the galactic confederacy’, who is believed to be a god who watches over Earth. His believers try to satisfy him with sacrifices. It is rumored that the cult is responsible for sending child cultists to a remote summer camp..._ ”

Everyone was quiet for a minute, and then Max spoke up.

“I told you! They’re from Daniel! You people are fucking idiots!”

“He IS right. You two are more stupid than that soldier I killed for his hand.” With that, the old geezer went back to his store, muttering something about a contract.

David sighed and went back to his chair. The three were stumped on what to do. It was obvious that the new kids needed to be removed in some way, but how? Shipping them off to some place was out of the question, and killing them was going to be difficult without someone to help.

The Quartermaster came back in the room again, this time with a paper that looked like it was stored in the camp for at least two decades, with the entire thing being yellow and it looked very frail.

“Alright, I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. Everyone come here and sign this.” He held out a pen to whoever came first.

David, surprisingly, was the first one to sign the paper. After that, he asked the man what was this about.

“This here is a contract, something for you all to sign so I can eliminate the new kids.”

“We don’t need you to kill them, Quartermaster.”

“Would you prefer them to live?” No response came after that. Gwen and Max came shortly after David and signed the contract.

Max was about to go to the window to get outside when the Quartermaster stopped him. “Boy, get everyone’s signature so I don’t traumatize them when the time comes.”

The boy simply nodded and went back outside to find Nikki.

He couldn’t find anyone. The entire activities field was deserted. Max couldn’t find anyone, not even Neil and Nathan, were they spent most of the day yesterday and today. Until someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Are you ok? You’ve been in that position for five minutes without moving.”

At first, Max was shocked, but it quickly died out and he calmed down. It was Elizabeth, who god knows how long she had men standing there. He looked at the girl with suspicion with mixed in anger.

“Where’s everyone? What did you do with them you sick piece of crap? What’s your name?”

“First of all, calm down. Second of all, they’re down at the theater for a performance by Harrison and Harold. Third of all, my name’s Elizabeth, although you can call me Eliza for short.”

“Even Nikki?” This made Max afraid, even though he couldn’t pinpoint the reason for it. The green haired teen seemed to be enjoying his fear.

“What’s the matter? You’re afraid that your cynical facade has been broken?”

“It’s not a facade. It’s an attitude. An actual facade would be your overly nice attitude.”

“I AM nice. You just won’t admit it, because you’re an arrogant bastard who doesn’t admit anything.”

“Whatever. Are all of the campers down there? All of them?” Max wanted to be sure on this.

“All of them are down there. Even your friends. Why don’t you go there and enjoy the show?”

“Please, there’s no way-,” Max said before he paused. He thought about this for a minute and grinned, already formulating a plan.“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I’ll be there in a flash.”

Max was at the theater, looking for Nikki. He spotted her, who was at the back besides a box of tomatoes and beckoned her to come with him to the front bench.

He noticed that Nerris, Ered and their counterparts were missing and asked Nikki where were they. “They’re performers! They’re gonna do cool tricks and stuff!

At first, Max was surprised at the fact those two, of all people, would be in a magic show. He later brushed it off and went back on track. “Remember, act unimpressed with everything that comes from behind those curtains. Make sure to yawn sometimes too,” Max whispered to Nikki. The tomboy nodded and she and Max put on a bored look.

Preston appeared from behind the curtains and shouted for everyone to be quiet down. When that didn’t work, he pulled out a megaphone and yelled into it. At once the banter died down.

“Finally. Now everyone, enjoy the magic show, brought to you by Harrison and Harold!” Preston disappeared behind the curtains and the two magicians entered on stage. Their first act was them conjuring rings of fire and ice while a white tiger lept through the rings. The crowd roared with applause and cheering, except for Max and Nikki, who looked bored and unmoved by the act.

The second act was Harold conjuring balls of ice and juggling them while Harrison pulled out numerous coins from behind the othe magicians ear. Once again the crowd went wild, but the shouting died out when Max yelled that the act was boring.

Harrison looked at the Indian, slightly confused on how he wasn’t fazed by the acts. “What’s wrong Max? Did I freak your mind too hard for you to lose reality?”

Max scoffed and stood up on the bench. “Please, this is basic magic by your standards. Do something interesting.”

Harrison was about to say something, but Harold pushed him aside and laughed at the boy. “Oh really? Do you want to see more intense stuff?”

Max took a look at him, for he hadn’t got a clear image of him before. He had dark green eyes and his hair was dirty blonde. His tophat had a blue ribbon around it.

“As a matter of fact, yes I do. Show me your best.” With that being said, Max sat down.

“So be it. Preston, close the curtains. We’re going in for preparation for more extreme tricks.” The performers once again disappeared behind the curtains and Preston was left standing there. He sighed and also went into the backstage, mumbling about an intermission.

Soon enough, Nerris and Nicole were on the front stage with Harold and Harrison being completely frozen in ice.

This act consisted of Nerris chipping ice away with an ice pick, slowly but steadily breaking off Harold’s hands, with Nicole doing the same with Harrison. Soon enough the boys had no hands and yet they felt no pain.

The audience went complete ape-shit after that, screaming and even more cheering came from them. The whole place seemed like a riot scene.

Max and Nikki were still keeping up the act, although Nikki allowed herself a slight grin. This enraged Harold and ordered that he and Harrison be taken off the stage, have their hands reattached and the performance be shortened massively.

For the third time the front stage was empty and the red fabric was draped across the stage. After a shockingly short amount of time, the front stage was opened once again, this time with ice ramps with mattresses covering to top of them and with Ered on her skateboard. There was a small, literal confetti cannon that was painted in yellow and magenta pointing upwards, with Harold besides it, looking the other way.

Max tapped Nikki on the shoulder. “Nikki, do you have that tomato?”

The girl nodded and grinned and took out a slightly mashed up tomato. “Will this do?”

“It sure as hell will!” The boy grabbed the fruit, preparing himself to throw it at the cannon when the time would come.

Ered went down the ramp and was excited with herself. While the crowd was watching, Max threw the tomato at the cannon. The impact of it caused the cannon to tilt to the right, and that was when Preston, without paying attention to the machine, lit the fuse that was attached to it.

The cannon fired confetti right at Ered, blinding her and causing her to nearly fall out of the skateboard. She held on, but not before crashing to the ground.

The white clad boy, on the other hand, let out a yelp of terror.

The two mischievous shits laughed at the girl, while also keeping an eye on the stage. However, the rest of the audience and a very pissed Harold had different ideas for them.

“They ruined the magic show! GET THEM!” Harold was livid, and within a moment the kids had grabbed tomatoes and started pelting the two with them. The duo made a run for it, with a mob trailing behind them. At last, the two found refuge inside Max’s tent, with the mob running right past them.

When the coast was clear, Max and Nikki emerged from the tent and went straight to the lake, hoping to wash themselves of the putrid stench of tomatoes and such. When they arrived, they found Ered and Harrison moping, with Nerris trying to cheer them up.

“So uncool of them to do that, I thought Nikki liked me...” Ered was distraught by her botched performance, although she was grateful that everyone was too busy staring at the kids to notice.

“At least I got some time in the spotlight! You practically have a harem!” Harrison wasn’t taking any of the blonde’s moping this time.

“Please, can both of you calm down? Max has always been an asshole, this isn’t new for him,” Nerris begged. She put her right arm around the older girls shoulders.

Ered smiled and embraced Nerris in a light hug. “Thank you. You’re the best one here. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

The darker girl put her other arm around Harrisons arm. “And you, no one noticed you messing up. Everyone cheered on for you.”

“Aww, thank you too Nerris. You really are the best one here.” The three were like this for ten seconds before the a horrible smell came.

“Ew, what the hell is that smell?” The three turned around and saw Max and Nikki behind them, nervously smiling.

“Hey guys, what’s up? Are you ok,” Max said with Nikki also smiling. The three weren’t exactly happy with them and Ered stomped right over to Max and grabbed him by his hoodie.

“You. Do you know what have you done?”

“Okay, I’m sorry about the whole thing...”

“Of course you are. I will ruin you even if it takes me the rest of the summer.”

“Why are you so angry about this? It was just a magic show.”

“I was going to have a place in it. But no, you and Nikki decided to screw up the whole thing. And now, I will ruin you.” With that, Ered turned around and hung Max over the water.

Fearing for his life, Max gave one last try to calm the girl down. “I can get your cool back. I can get all of your cool back. Just don’t drop me.”

At first, Ered seemed surprised, then she put Max down and crossed her arms. “You better get to it now.”

Max nodded and the five went to the front of the mess hall. There they waited until they heard voices from the right.

“Alright, the trunk’s opened already, right Elizabeth?”

“Yes, that’s right Harold. I’ve already checked in to the counselors and gathered everything. We just need Naer and those knives.”

“Nicole, would you be so kind as to get him and to make sure every door is locked? Especially the door to David and Gwen. Me and Harold will doublecheck the list.”

“Got it!” Nicole went to the mess hall, only to bump into the group.

“Well, well, well, look who it is. Did you have fun ruining that magic show Maxwell?”

Max didn’t respond and only looked up to the girl. Her skin tone was the same as Jen and she had blond hair as well.

“Nicole, to be honest, the magic show kinda sucked. It was short and it sucked ass and only Harrison and Harold did anything.”

“Shut it. Now get out of my way before I beat you up.” The five obliged and got out of the way.

“Listen up, we will hide in that bush until that car comes back, ok?”

“Why? What does this have to do with getting back my cool?” Ered wasn’t sure on the idea.

“This WILL get your cool back. Just all of you, trust me on this.”

The remaining kids looked at each other, and then nodded.

“And that’s why these kids are batshit crazy cultists coming for us. The fucking end.” Max was relieved to get his story out of the way, and everyone seemed to believe him, but not before Harrison had retorted that he would rather die than be in a bush any longer with him.

He was about say something else, but then the smell of smoke and gasoline got Max’s attention. The group looked out of the bush to see Elizabeth, Harold and Nicole all carrying a large bag of something. The boy got out of the bush and went over to the trunk of the car.

What he saw was pure horror. A horribly bisected, mutilated body with many cuts and a huge gash across the chest. There were arms and legs, all cut off and were resting in a pool of blood, along with fur and snouts around them. And Max could see organs scattered around the body parts. He shouted for his friends to come see the mess.

As expected, the group didn’t take it well. Nerris threw up behind them and Nikki and Ered started to gag while Harrison was trying to comfort Nerris.

“What could do this? Why would anyone do this?” This was the only thing Max said before remembering who was on this thing.

“This is proof that those cultists were the ones who did this. Now do you all see?”

The four looked at the Indian, and they nodded.

“Good. Now, they is something I need to show you. Something that is a part of stopping this bullshit once and for all.”


	6. The Most Dangerous Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A play made by Preston and Priss has Max investigating.

This was not going well.

Max was stuck in the backstage with a detective hat and outfit on him, as he was starring as the main character in a murder mystery play. He would’ve liked to prevent this, but fate had other plans for him.

Two days ago, everything went well enough. Max got Ered, Nerris, and Harrison to sign the contract and got himself and Nikki washed up and cleansed of the horrible smell of tomatoes.

But the body parts perplexed him. When he got David and Gwen to come to the trunk, there was nothing, for all of them mysteriously disappeared. There wasn’t even a trace of blood. The only thing that hinted the adults of their presence was a very faint smell. The boy could swear he heard muffled screams during the night of the past two days, yet he found nothing.

This day didn’t go as planned however. Max had spent the past two days coming up with another plan. When Max attempted to tell Preston about the counterparts and his plan, he laughed directly at Max’s face and called him a crazy bitch. Not only that, he was roped into his play as the main character.

Max despised the playwright. He was annoying and loud and wouldn’t stop spitting out Shakespeare quotes for one minute, just the right amount of those to make the Indian lash out and wish he committed suicide earlier in his life. He also had a strange obsession with Max, as he put the boy as a main character in every performance, only putting him as a minor character in some and not in the play at all once.

Preston claimed that Max had a “fiery personality with the right amount of cynicism and cunning every main character should have”. Max said that it was a “huge pile of bullshit”.

“MAX, GET READY FOR THE PLAY! IT STARTS IN FIVE MINUTES!” Max was taken aback by the noise at first, but he returned to his usual state when he saw that Preston was the one who shouted in the megaphone.

He turned around and faced the taller boy. “With all due respect, suck a dick Preston.”

“You can’t say that to me! I am your superior!”

“You may be my superior in this play, but your sure as hell not outside of this.”

“If it makes you feel better, I will be in the play as well.”

“I didn’t know that you’re the victim and I’m the murderer.”

“I cannot stand your venomous and disrespectful attitude! Get out of here!”

Max turned and went to the mirrors, hoping to see if he was good enough looking for the play. He was surprised to find Nikki there, reading some of Preston’s transcripts.

“Hey Max, come read these! They’re super funny,” Nikki said as she passed a paper to her friend. She was giggling with both delight and humor.

Max skimmed through the transcript and chuckled at it. Preston was terrible at writing lines, but lines for his female characters? They were comedy gold levels of bad.

_“Oh Marc, please validate me! I need to get onto the stage with my confidence and ego in check!”_ That was all the Indian needed to burst out laughing.

“Holy shit, Preston expects someone to read and say this?”

“I know right? He’s so silly!”

Max got back on track and put the paper down. He was here for something else. He went to the drawers below the mirrors and started searching for anything incriminating.

He found masks, various props, makeup oddly, and sketches of settings. The only thing Max found to piece together this mystery was a small book titled ‘IMPORTANT- DO NOT LET ANYONE READ’.

“What in Shakespeare’s grave are you doing searching for my stuff, Max?”

Max turned around to face the older boy, an angry look on his face. He was about to ask Preston what the hell the book was about when a bell rang.

“Preston, the play is about to start. Is everybody ready?”

“Yes Priss, everyone is ready. Just gotta get this little cunt to do this.”

Preston chuckled and turned back to Max. “Priss does that so everyone knows when it’s time for the play. Like now, you flaming piece of monkey crap.”

“I’m telling you, that guy is anything but good. Remember Daniel, you sack of horseshit?”

“Of course I do. That deranged maniac made Nurf drag me into that brainwashing machine!”

“But this guy, the guy _that is literally a copy of you and wears white clothing_ ISN’T a deranged maniac? You really must have a clone boner.”

“But he is the only one here that understands my passion for plays and the great writers of it besides Dolph. Do you simpletons understand it?”

“You know what? Fuck it. You are impossible to convince or to reason with. I’ll figure out this mystery by myself.”

Max stormed off to the front stage, waiting for the play to start and to get it over with as fast as possible. He adjusted his cap and his detective outfit while impatiently stamping his foot on the ground, arms crossed.

He almost let out a sigh of relief when the play started. He breezed through his lines as Preston made him memorize the lines and his actions three days ago. Everything went through in a flash, it seemed to Max. The only time the boy was actually focusing was during the intermission near the end of the play, as Priss called for it for a ‘shit your pants scary reveal’.

Max went to the pile of boxes and slid down to the ground. He felt doozy, like he didn’t sleep well. That was true, he slept with David for the past two days. He kept having nightmares about Micheal and the murdering of the campers and the strange body parts in the trunk of the Campmobile.

“Dude, are you ok? You look like your in shock.”

Max jumped at the voice, immediately readying himself to go back onstage. Instead he looked up and saw Ered and Nerris, both with concerned looks on their faces and with a duffel bag in Nerris’ hands.

“Oh, hey guys. What’s with the bag? And why are you two here?”

“Well, we went poking through Preston’s tent and Nerris found this bag buried below his bunk.”

Nerris had a triumphant look in her face and posed in a manner a hero would after completing a dangerous quest. “It was nothing. I, Nerris The Cute, found it effortlessly.”

Ered gave a laugh and ruffled the girls hair. “You are just too cute. I helped you with the shovel, but you did find it by yourself.”

“Well, yeah you did help me with that...”

Max grew agitated with the two and demanded that they explain what they were doing around at Preston’s tent and the duffel bag.

“Basically me and Nerris followed your advice and went around the others tents. This was buried recently, based on the fact the shovel was present and there were piles of dirt and stuff. You might wanna take a look at this.”

The Indian opened the bag and dug through it. He found rope, a flint and steel, a first aid kit, and food. There was more stuff, mostly survival stuff and tools, but what interested him the most were two books.

He took out the first, a small book with the title ‘Guide To Manipulation And Psychology’. He put this one aside and took out the other book, this one slightly larger and with a cover that read ‘The Tales Of Kings And Wizards’.

Max wasn’t fooled by this and ripped off the cover, revealing that it was one of the same books that Daniel pulled out during his stay at the Wood Scouts.

The boy, not interested in Daniel’s crazy bullshit religion, put the book back in place and closed the duffel bag altogether. He turned around to Ered and Nerris and took a deep breath.

“Ered, take this back to the tent. Nerris you-“

The sound of footsteps were audible to the three with some whispering mixed in.

“But the bag is gone. Where could it have gone?”

“No one could have gotten it. I buried it below the poor boy’s bunk Micheal.”

“But what if someone found it and looked through the contents? We’re screwed. They’ll call the police on us and and god knows what they'll do to us.”

“I assure you that one of us has got it. I heard that Dave wanted to go see if I had any art supplies for this horrid play.”

Alerted, Max quickly put the bag behind a box and slid the books below it.

Micheal and Priss soon arrived and asked Max and Ered if they knew anything about ‘something’ of Priss that went missing. Of course, the two denied any knowledge of such a thing.

“But it’s gone! I’ve checked everywhere for it and I still couldn’t find it!”

“Nurf stole it. He’s always stealing everyone’s shit; it’s not a surprise he came after you. Isn’t that right Ered?” Max was met by a nod by the teenager.

Micheal said that they would look into it and see if Nurf took it. He also told the girls to get back to the audience and to his relief the two strolled back to their seats. Priss dragged Max from his position and told him that the final scene of the play was ready and it needed to be top notch.

He was ready for this abomination of a play to be over when the curtains were removed and he saw the audience. They appeared horrified, much to the confusion of Max, and that’s when he looked behind him to the stage.

The Indian was met by bodies shackled to the wall, eyes gouged out with dried blood covering the bottom of them. They were naked, their penises, nipples, and hair seemingly cut off. Organs were strewn across the floor with patches of skin accompanying them. A strong stench of blood filled the air, nearly making Max throw up.

_“What in fucking hell is this?! Is this what they were planning to do with the bodies? I knew they were crazy and assholes from the start, but this... this is to far,”_ Max thought while he tried to not to embarrass himself. He drew in a deep breath and focused on getting this over with.

“Oh my sweet Gretchen, it appears your husband was killed by... a flock of ravens?”

‘Gretchen’, who was played by Nikki, started to cry crocodile tears and slumped down on the floor. “Oh my poor husband! Curse those damn birds!”

“Now, now, it seems that the birds were controlled by a man whose name was...”

On cue, the murder leaped out of the shadows and stabbed Max in the back. He gave a groan and fell face down on the ground, pretending to die on the spot.

“Ohohoho! It was me, the Raven Killer! I assigned these creatures to come and kill you! Now bathe in my pride and I might spare you.”

Max muttered his lines, but something was bothering him. He felt like he really was stabbed. The pain was starting to blossom, and all Max could do was to try and endure the pain as the Raven Killer raved with pleasure.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the play was over. Curtains were drawn and Max got himself up and took off his detective outfit. He put his hand over the part where the scar was. He was surprised to feel how deep it was, and he drew blood all over his fingers.

He knew what to do. He got Preston’s attention by telling him that he wanted his help for a transcript he was writing. He was perplexed at first, but he caved in and went with Max. The boys went to Ered and Nerris, who were waiting by their tents.

The girls looked up from whatever they were doing and greeted them. Max explained everything the stabbing and showed them the scar.

“Woah dude, that looks rough. Are you sure you’re ok?” Max smiled a little by Ered’s discomfort. She was like a big sister to all.

“I’m fine. Where’s the evidence?”

“Here.” Nerris pulled the same book and handed it to Max. He took, made sure it was the right book, and handed it to the playwright.

He was surprised and distraught as looked at the cover and read through it, revealing that his fellow playwright was indeed a cultist.

“This can’t be! This has to be a joke!”

“It isn’t. Nerris found this buried under the ground in your tent. Why else do you think it would be buried?”

“Priss is shy about his possessions. There’s a reason he would hide this.”

“Are you shitting me right now?! This is proof that your fucking friend is insane and you’re defending!”

The tall boy sighed and admitted defeat. Max felt satisfied with this as he knew that Preston could be a real cunt sometimes.

“Oh, and by the way...” The child said as he pulled out a dusty paper out of his pocket.

“We need you to sign this.”

“What for?

“We’ll work out the details later. Will you sign this anyway?”

Preston could see he didn’t have much of a decision in this matter.


	7. Capture

She was scared, to say the least.

Nikki never expected to go out on her own, in a camp now littered with cultists, including a copy of her. She also thought of herself as the brave, fearless one that could take on anything, no matter how big or strong, but she was beginning to doubt that statement.

She was scared of herself. Well, technically herself. Bella was pretty much her in every way and form, save for the features such as hair and eye color. She wished she had Max by her side right now, but he had to take the day off after what had happened after Preston’s play. She took it as her duty to take her place and see if she could convince anyone to sign that wretched piece of paper.

She deceive to set out for Space Kid and Neil, as the former could be convinced to do anything, granted if he got a space rock or rocket ship toy.

For the latter, Nikki was one of the few people here that he still trusted and let in on what he and Nathan were working on.

“It’s some kind of machine that spews our gases and chemicals. Nathan came up with the idea, and so I just work on building on it,” the Jew said after Nikki asked what was he working on.

Nikki decided to get a move on and get back on her task. After the green haired girl checked on Max one more time, and after he insisted that he was going to let Nikki take this one for the day, she set off.

Trying to find Space Kid was much harder than usual, for some reason. Nikki assumes he would be playing with his patchwork rocket ship or examining ‘meteorites’ which were really rocks. But it seemed like he was actually gone now.

Nikki decried to check the woods for him, as it was actually a common place for him to be in. With a deep breath, the little girl ventured in the dark forest.

Max was pissed. Because of that insane motherfucker, he had been forced into David’s bed for today, with the adult tending the large gash in his back and putting shitty excuses for bandages on it.

“David, are you shitting me right now? This camp can’t afford fucking proper bandages of all things?”

“Max, I know that you’re frustrated that you can’t go out today. But you need to stay in here and wait for this to heal.”

“This scar won’t be healed until the end of the year dumbass. And that’s if I even get to a hospital.”

David sighed and got up from his seat. He had been by Max’s side for a good twenty minutes to ensure that he wouldn’t have done something stupid.

“Max, I’m going out for a breath of fresh air. Are you sure that you won’t get up from that position and possibly cause your back damage?”

“Pfft, I can barely even turn my head. I’ll be fine camp man.”

David, showing a face of both relief and gratitude, went outside to god knows where.

_Actually David, I have more important things on my mind than this._ Slowly, Max rose up from the bed and rubbed his hand over the gash to make sure that the gauze was still on. After being contempt with it, he set off for Nikki.

It had been a half hour and Nikki still couldn’t find Space Kid. She was started to get worried, he either would’ve been found or would’ve come running from the woods after being chased by an animal.

She eventually managed to spot a stand, with the sign that was plastered on to it reading ‘rocks 4 sale’.

Nikki was at first, surprised and confused about this, as Space Kid would normally be handing out rocks for free, but the girl shrugged it off and decided to see if Space Kid was anywhere near it.

To no one’s surprise, he wasn’t at it. Nikki investigated the stand further, but the only thing she found were rocks and and toy rockets.

She heard footsteps behind her. As she was turning around to run, Nikki was hit on the head with what it seemed to be a large piece of wood.

The girl was put in a sack and dragged somewhere dank and musty. Before she lost consciousness, she heard a voice.

“The wild animal, the ones that is named ‘Nikki’ has been caught. Find the other one and the experiment will start then.”

Max was starting to regret this whole thing. For one, he had no idea where Nikki was, even after asking everyone, except David and Gwen, of course. And for two, his back hurt like hell, with every step he took, his back seemed to have the damage multiply.

_“I should’ve had that damn gash stitched up before I left,”_ Max thought as he walked through the activities field, looking for his friend.

_“Actually, I don’t think this crappy camp has any medical equipment. That would explain the buried skulls.” _

Max looked at the woods, cold and dark as always. He thought about entering them. After thinking about the consequences of entering those, he decided that it would be the best place to look for Nikki.

He stumbled through the roots and the bushes, hiding behind a tree everytime he heard a suspicious noise or a voice.

He eventually found the stand, and something felt off about it. For one, if it was one of Space Kid’s retarded plans to give kids rocks, there were a hundred better ways to do it. Before he could go any further, he too was knocked out.

Max regained consciousness a few seconds later. He tried to move, but it turned out he was in some kind of chair, with straps constraint him and a blindfold over his eyes. He heard a voice call out, “Max!”

“N-Nikki? Is that you?”

“Yup. Where am I? Do you know where Space Kid is?”

“I have no clue, dumbass. Do you think I recognize everything in this god forsaken-“

Before he could finish, the sound of cart wheels and and the sound of mechanical whirring could be heard. The blindfolds were taken off of the children and there it was, the face of Micheal, twisted in a dark grin.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? Someone wandered into the wrong bunker?”

“Micheal, you absolute piece of human shit. I will tear off your limbs once I get off of this chair.”

“Try to. The straps in there are made of the toughest and finest leather we have. You’ll also be shocked if you even make a move.” 

“Leather? What are you talking about? Did you find Campbell’s secret stash?” 

“Oh no. ...Father and Mother gave us the leather, along with most of our supplies we have.” 

“You mean Daniel and Jen? I know who sent you here you jackasses.” 

“Enough of that. It’s time for the Purification. Astro Kid, hit it.”

A click and the machine was one. It resembled a fire hydrant, only with a nozzle and a number pad embedded in the front of it. 

The machine started spraying out some kind of gas. After relenting, cursing and screaming, Max and Nikki couldn’t hear or do anything after it was inhaled through their nostrils. 

Their pupils became dilated and they mind felt as if they were high. They felt a strange sense of euphoria as the room became engulfed in the strange gas.

The world slipped and all went black...


	8. Savior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max is captured and is to be sacrificed. All seems lost... but is it?

_“Fuck... what happened? Where am I?” _

That was his first thought. Max was confused. He tried to move his arm and failed. The boy couldn’t see anything and could only assume that he was blindfolded again. He tried again, this time with more effort, only to fail again. 

_“Not even a bit? What’s gotten into me?”_

He then tried to speak, but failed. In fact, it seemed as if his mouth was set at a certain position, presumably someone was keeping them in place or hooks were placed on his face. 

His legs were restrained with leather straps, but as strange as it seemed, were full of energy. His brain was throbbing and had a massive headache, but other than that, he felt fine. Excellent even. 

It seemed that his thoughts were the only thing that Max had in control of, the only thing not controlled. As the Indian was about to attempt to move his limbs a third time, he heard a door opening, feet moving and casual chatter as if this was the mess hall. 

“Yes, yes... we’ve gotten most of the campers. Only ones remaining are those annoying ones who heard about our plan. From Max, of course.” 

That voice came from Micheal, sounding satisfied at his work. 

Another voice spoke. This time, it was Nathan. 

“And just how many are left?” 

“Not much. Just Dolph, Ered, and Nerris and we still have the counselors to get to.” 

“Why don’t we leave everyone dead except them? If the authorities came they’d immediately assume its the adults that did it. No one would expect a buck he of children to partake in such a hideous crime.” 

“If we leave them, they’ll report us to the authorities. Or track us down to Daniel.” 

“Micheal, we’re in the middle of buttfuck nowhere. The next city is at least an hour away and there’s only one sheriff out here. Stop worrying about it.”

Micheal sighed. He knew Nathan was right and there was no point in prolonging the argument. 

“You’re right. Let’s get back to it, shall we?”

“But first, someone else comes first.”

The blindfold came off, and there he was, the innocent shitlord Max was both afraid of and hated at the same time, with his diabolical friend. 

“Hello Maxy. Enjoy your slumber? Feel refreshed and ready for the day?” 

_“Oh please, cut it with the innocent talk. I know who you really are.”_

That’s what Max would’ve like to say, but he couldn’t have. His mouth was still held in a gaping smile *by those damn hooks!*

“Mmmph!” 

“Oh, that’s right. I never removed your hooks. You know, we had them on originally for that girl Nikki, but we decided it would be for the best of if it we’re put on everyone.” 

But lemme see...” 

He removed the hooks. Despite that, his mouth was still in a smile. Max tried to frown as hard as he could, as pathetic as it sounded. 

No avail. He also noticed as soon as his blindfold was off, he blinked much slower than usual. 

“Like it Max? Do you like smiling? I know you like it, but you can’t admit it, because you’re a stubborn little shit.

Nathan snickered. He was enjoying every moment of this. Add to the fact Neil was completely oblivious to the fact that they were evil, he still supported them. 

Now repeat after me: “Zëmug the almighty has blessed us with life and humanity...”

“Z-Zëmug the almighty has blessed us with life and humanity...”

_“Wait, what the fuck? I don’t mean that or believe any kind of Daniel’s batshit crazy religion!”_

“Daniel is the chosen one...”

“D-Daniel is the chosen one...” 

_“Stop it! Stop repeating whatever comes out of his mouth!”_

“He will come and stand for humanity during the Final Days...” 

“H-“He will come and stand for humanity during the Final Days...” 

_“NONONONONO! STOP IT!”_

Micheal and Max traded phrases for Max knows how long. He just wanted to stop showing weakness in front of his enemy.

After what seemed to be half an hour, Micheal stoped. He grinned. 

“Hmm... the brainwashing is effective to say the least. You repeat what I say and make no sudden movements toward me.” 

His grin faded and was replaced with a small frown. 

“But you do hesitate. That is not good. It indicates the brainwashing has flaws and does not fully control you.” 

But, it should keep you from doing stupid things for 2 hours at the least. It should be enough for the plan... Nathan are you sure this was the exact formula that Daniel used?”

“Yes yes, it is the same thing. It’s most likely these imbeciles have strengthened.

But Max, before you and everyone else here perishes, I would like to show you something.” 

He snapped his fingers and Naer came, holding a chair with a kid that had a skinny arms and legs like Neil, except that his clothes were white. Nathan tore off the blindfold and there he was, Neil was smiling and had the same dilated eyes the other kids had.

Max would’ve loved to shout out, to call for his friend, but he couldn’t do anything about it. All he could do was stare as he was being prepared for a sacrifice and slowly die inside. 

He never expected his death to come so early. Sure, he had expected to die a couple of times, mostly when he most wanted it, but he didn’t want it to be like this. A sacrifice to some god that didn’t exist. 

It was made worse as he saw his worst enemies laugh in front of him and celebrate. They would be killed, have themselves be praised by Daniel and Jen, and move on to their next assignment. 

It sucked, and Max hated it to no end. If he were somehow freed from his chair and cured of his brainwashing, he would murder Micheal with his bare hands. 

After a while, Max stopped caring about the cultists snide comments about him and his stupidity and waited for his death. Thinking about his doom would do him no good, and he accepted the fact he was going to die with no one to save him long ago. 

It seemed like his sense of time was warped as well, as it seemed like it took days for something interesting to happen. 

Finally, after what seemed like a decade of waiting, the ritual was finished. An inverted pentagram was painted on the floor, complete with a pair of wings. A set of eight candles were placed on the edges of the pentagram, with chairs placed inside of it. 

The leather straps were torn off. As much as he wanted to be relieved, Max wasn’t as his hand was crushed by Naer’s bulky one and was promptly re-placed inside of the chair in the middle of the shape. 

Micheal spoke up. “Now Max, as the first sacrifice and the most important, you will have the mark of Zëmug himself.” 

He reached for a dagger and sliced a thin line into each of his arms. He then removed Max’s pants and did the same for his legs.

The stench of blood filled the room. Max felt like he was going to throw up. He was in unimaginable plan from those cuts as well from the gash in his back. 

He was losing blood, fast. He felt dizzy and light headed after five minutes or so, which we spent rounding up everyone and encasing them in the chairs. They too had minor marks and cuts as well, but they were smaller than the ones Max had. 

At this time, Max started having flashbacks. Of arriving to camp. Of trying to escape and failing. Of tying up David to the flag pole and taking the camp for themselves. Many of them, so sweet and careless. Nothing hinted at this drastic turn of events. 

His thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Max assumed it was some guy that Daniel ordered to help out the cultists with their plan. 

Little did he know he was wrong. 

Bella immediately went to the door, saying that she would get it. When she opened it, she and the rest of the kids were in for a surprise. 

The door slammed open with no thought for the girl. It turned out to be Quartermaster with David and Gwen, armed with a rifle, here to save the day. 

He shot Bella after he found her lying on the ground recovering from the pain and the shock. Brain matter and flesh went flying out.

He ran over to the inverted pentagram and began shooting at everyone. Within a minute, only four of the cultists remained, those being Micheal, Nathan, Harold and Naer. They were hiding behind the brainwashing machine.

The latter made a desperate attempt at killing the old man and ran toward a box full of weapons. He was met with a bullet to the head and collapsed.

The others saw that death was near inevitable for them and silently decided that the only way out of here was with the machine. 

Nathan very quietly reached for a knob. His attempt was shot down, literally by his hand being blown to pieces. He let out a bloodcurdling scream and made a full attempt at turning on the machine.

The boy was shot in the chest swiftly and fell down. Only Micheal and Harold remained. 

Quartermaster decided that he was being too slow and went over to the fire hydrant looking machine. 

The two accepted their demise and gave up. Quartermaster shot them without question. 

After the massacre, he beckoned for two the two other adults to come. The three took out knives and cut the leather straps and freed the campers. 

“Max? Can you hear me? Max,” David called out. He spotted the boy, very pale and nearly unconscious. He was on the verge of tears, his favorite camper could very well be dead. Gwen was doing the same thing to Nikki to the left of him. 

Quartermaster came over and placed his hand on David’s shoulder. “Kid will be fine. Patch him up, he’s suffering from blood loss. “

Max would’ve like to speak up, to thank David and Quartermaster for saving him, but he barely had the strength to breathe in his current state. Besides, he was still brainwashed. 

The world once again faded before him. 

It wasn’t easy, but they did it. 

The cultists were all dead and the campers were all cleared of their brainwashing. It took two hours for it to get out from their systems entirely. After David and Gwen got out of the bunker, Quartermaster said he’d clean this whole mess up and started collecting the bodies in a sack he found in the far right of the bunker. 

Max and Nikki were sitting with David and Gwen and at the lake, watching out towards the sunset. Neil later joined them. 

“So Max... sorry about the whole ‘making friends with a cultist thing’,” Neil said, worrying that Max had abandoned him as a friend. 

“You’re were, and still are an asshole on my part.” Max was still sour about the ordeal. 

“Could you forgive me? I mean, the abandoning thing was on my part, but I just wanted someone I could bond with.” 

“I’ll see. Don’t go doing anything stupid on your part and I’ll go back.” 

Neil smiled. That was as much of a yes as he would get currently. 

David spoke up. “Max, would you like to go back to your tent? You don’t have to sleep with me anymore.” 

Max thought about that for a moment. He shook his head. “Could I sleep by your side for one more night? Please?” Nikki chimed in, saying that she wanted to sleep with Gwen for one more night too.

David looked over to Max, then smiled. “Of course you can Max. You’re always welcomed in my bed.” 

“That sounds like some pedo joke, but okay.” 

But inside his heart, Max was thankful to have David by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it’s finished! Thank you all for sticking around for this crazy story!


End file.
